We’re still days away from the reveal of Apple’s iPhone 11 lineup, but rumors are already swirling about the company’s 2020 phones, which are still a full year away. The latest comes from the reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who claims in his latest research notes that next year’s phones will feature an all-new design, the first since the 2017’s iPhone X overhaul, via 9to5Mac.
Per Kuo’s note, the 2020 iPhone lineup will feature three major changes: “(1) all-new form factor design, (2) 5G support, and (3) camera function upgrades.” Some of these, like 5G support, were known; Kuo had already noted earlier this year that Apple would be bringing 5G to all three of main iPhone models next year, and something as vague as “camera function upgrades” is practically a given for any iPhone release.
IPHONE REDESIGNS HAVE SLOWED RECENTLY
But the new design would be significant since Apple has greatly slowed down the rate at which it introduces new form factors. The company originally released devices in a tick-tock cycle, with a major redesign one year, followed by a refinement of that design — the “S” year — the next, but recently that pace has slowed. The iPhone 6 design lasted a full four years, appearing on the 6, the 6S, the 7, and the 8. The iPhone X design appears to be following that trend, heading for its third year with largely similar iPhone 11 lineup expected to be announced this week.
Details on the redesign are predictably slimmer, although an earlier report from Kuo indicates that Apple will be adjusting screen sizes for its two flagship OLED phones, down to a 5.4-inch panel (compared to the 5.8-inch iPhone XS) on the smaller device and up to a 6.7-inch screen on the larger (versus the 6.5-inch iPhone XS Max).
Another report from Bloomberg earlier this week claims that Apple will also be bringing in-display fingerprint technology to the 2020 iPhones as well where the feature will work alongside the current Face ID facial recognition scanning for an extra level of protection.
